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Our Anniversary: The Seven Year Itch |
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Written by Mark Manry
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Sunday, 04 September 2005 20:46 |
 Lori and I’s seven year anniversary is tomorrow – our seventh.? I titled this post, “The Seven Year Itch,” but not because I am experiencing inner discontentment like the male character in the 1955 Marilyn Monroe movie of the same title.? Instead, Lori and I are experiencing the seven year itch together, in the form of a desire to reenter full-time ministry, this time in another culture on another continent.? And so to celebrate the journey we have found ourselves taking together, I wanted to write about a few things (seven to be exact) that I have learned and keep learning about this wonderful woman I call my wife.? Those of you reading this who do not know my wife Lori will think my words a little far fetched and grandiose; those of you who know her will need to read with grace because I can’t possibly capture the beauty and vibrancy of her inner and outer life in a few short paragraphs.? But here goes:
Lori has a simple “what you see is what you get” personality which makes her so genuine and real in her relationships.
Lori is not so simple when decision making is involved whether ordering food at a restaurant or dreaming of what life will be like in five years.? I can’t decide if this is a result of her being particular about the way she wants things or if she is really just making up her mind as she is going along.? In short, Life with Lori is never boring and predictable.
Lori infuses energy (except in the early morning) into every activity and every relationship she is a part of.?
Lori cares about people in ways I can only hope to imitate.? She empathizes so easily both with her closest friends and people she hardly knows, shouldering their problems with them.? She will immediately drop everything she is doing when she knows someone needs her.? I’ve seen her spend a day (or days) fasting and praying for someone.?
Lori is never satisfied with the status quo.? This goes for almost everything from the way she decorates our home, her wardrobe, her relationships, and mostly, her spiritual life.? She always challenges herself to be something more than she presently is.? This is what makes Lori so contagious, boundless, and fun.
Lori can talk to anybody and anybody can talk to her. Lori is a person with tremendous faith.? Few people understand?and appreciate how much Lori has overcome personally and circumstantially to have made the decisions she has over the past year to uproot herself and family from a comfortable life in?Michgian to do mission work in Africa.? She has allowed God to change her, shape her, and strengthen her for a life and a ministry neither of us have planned.? Of all the incredible things that make Lori who she is, her faith continues to inspire me.
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